How to Practice Programming Techniques and Improve as a Developer

Whether you are new to programming or have been at it for years, practice is important. The more you practice your programming skills, the better you will be. You have various options to practice programming techniques. These options will help you brush up on your skills and continually improve as a developer.

Engage in Pair Programming

Programming doesn’t have to be a solitary activity. Instead of taking in on by yourself, engage in pair programming. Since pair programming has people working together from a single computer, it is a great way to learn different strategies for tackling problems and approaching the process. This type of practice will quickly make you a better programmer, as long as you choose a good partner.

Utilize Open Source Software

Open source software is a great way to practice your programming techniques. Start by reading code from various open source projects. This will help you understand how the programmers managed to create such a successful project.

Then participate in various open source projects. As you work, people will give you immediate feedback. It might be hard to hear the criticism from time to time, but it will help you fine-tune your skills, which will make you a better programmer.

Visit the DailyProgrammer Subreddit on Reddit

Reddit is a community full of people who share ideas and help one another. You can get in on the action with the DailyProgrammer subreddit. This subreddit posts three programming challenges each week. The first challenge is relatively easy, and then they increase in difficulty. The community reviews the solutions and provides feedback. Use this subreddit to improve your skills while having some fun.

Take Online Courses

Sometimes you don’t need to go back to school to develop your programming skills. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are an excellent way to brush up on your skills. You can learn at your own pace and practice the techniques that you need to work on without getting rushed. Best of all, you can get feedback during the course, which will help you become a better programmer. You can check out my Professional Rails Course if you want to learn how to best utilize the Rails framework.

Code Katas

The term kata was first introduced by Dave Thomas in the book The Pragmatic Programmer. He borrowed it from martial arts and applied it to the programming world. In order to code katas, you need to take a small requirement and create the code. Then do it over and over again, improving it until it is perfect. This is an easy way to practice coding while making your code better.

Practice Programming Techniques Summary

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you don’t need to practice programming. You should practice as often as possible. You can leverage these recommendations to practice programming techniques to improve your skills so that you can take your career or your hobby to the next level.